Ripping stitches, cutting frantically, executing fabric masterpieces—these are the images you should see when your casual channel surfing brings you to Lifetime on Thursdays at 9 pm. Lately, however, Project Runway has failed in showcasing high-fashion looks. Instead, they have been showcasing something entirely different—the products of their sponsors.

                The Emmy-winning television show squeezes in as much advertisement as they possibly can in their allotted hour and a half of airtime. Each show has eight commercial breaks, each about three minutes long. Twenty four minutes of a 90-minute show means 27 percent of the show is filled with blaring jingles trying to convince viewers that buying this product will make them a series of adjectives with positive connotations.

                This number is fairly average as far as commercial time to television show ratios go. What sets Project Runway apart from other television shows (unfortunately) are their sneakier methods of showing off whatever their sponsors are selling. Each season Project Runway requires sponsors to supply them with makeup, accessories, sewing machines and a fashion spread in a magazine. Hearing about these products a dozen times an episode is annoying, yes, but it at least makes sense. A show about fashion, advertising brands pertaining to fashion is reasonable.  The show commits a serious faux-pas, however, with their other sponsors: hotels, restaurants, electronic companies, car companies, and even refrigerator companies. It would be one thing if these advertisers stayed where they belong—the 24 minutes dedicated solely to them—but their products bleed into the actual content of the show, compromising the quality of entertainment.

                During earlier seasons of Project Runway, each week’s challenge was innovative and interesting; whether the designers were creating a look out of the pajamas they were wearing or making an evening gown based off of a high school student’s art project. But as the show gained more and more attention from advertisers—the show’s real money-maker—sponsored products became the sun around which that week’s challenge revolved. Most of these challenges are a stretch, I roll my eyes when designers create looks inspired by a car or a type of soup. Throughout the show, there are unnecessary and painfully unnatural-seeming shots of the designers praising the product of the week. Then, when the judges critique the designers’ looks, there is even more advertising: a guest judge who often has nothing to do with the fashion industry whose job is to casually mention whatever product their company is advertising. The show clearly sacrifices quality content for profit, proving where their priorities truly lie.

                These sacrifices are not lost on viewers. The show lost nearly a third of their viewers from the tenth to eleventh season, and a quarter of those viewers from the eleventh to twelfth season, according to TV Line.  Countless viewers have complained of the show being a “sell-out” or, as one anonymous commenter said, “one big giant commercial” on online forums.

                As someone who watches Project Runway religiously—the way some people watch So You Think You Can Dance—I agree with the views of these fans and I am extremely disappointed in the direction taken by such a promising show. Project Runway clearly weighed the importance of money and sponsors against the importance of fans of the show and chose the former, making it obvious that the show caters their content towards potential sponsors and not viewers.